


Ya’aburnee

by SighingWinter



Series: Unspoken and Untranslated [7]
Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Balin knows something that Bilbo doesn't, I am sorry about the feels, M/M, Post-BOFA, Thorin protects Bilbo's heart even as he shatters it, but Thorin dies, if you are emotional prepare the tissues, yes- im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:07:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SighingWinter/pseuds/SighingWinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin's last aching breath is spent and only Balin knows what his last words mean in all their depth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ya’aburnee

It was a fairly common saying back in the ancient days, when the dwarves were first learning how to mine and create, learning the songs their mountain homes while learning to gently coax metals and jewels into works of fantastic beauty.  Similar to the workings of their lives and the mountains in which they lived, dwarves loved once- a love so fierce and lasting that the greatest of dwarvish tales are said to have outlasted even the greatest of kingdoms.

While I cannot rightly tell you all their secret ways- for that alone is Mahal’s greatest treasure (outside of his own beloved)- I can tell you that at the end of the wedding ceremony it was tradition for a dwarf to murmur to their beloveds one word- a phrase that told their new spouse everything.

This word however was one word that Bilbo Baggins, Burglar of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, lover of the King-Under-the- Mountain, never heard his love say, simply because Thorin said it as the last breath slipped from his lungs and the light faded from his eyes. It was so softly breathed that only the King’s dearest friend, Balin son of Fundin, heard it under the sobs that tore from the hobbit’s broken heart.

In this declaration Thorin ensured it to true. No one had known better than he- that if he had ever told it to Bilbo before the War or before the danger, then his hobbit would have doubtlessly flung himself straight into danger, believing (foolishly in Thorin’s eyes) that his life was worth far less than that of the dwarf he loved. The dwarf that he had forgiven despite the wounds that Thorin’s words had given him upon the battlements, barely a day or two before.

It was always his hope that he would have died before Bilbo and with his last aching breath he murmured those fateful letters that ensured to love, brought sorrow, but most of all life- for Bilbo had many years to yet live for.

**Author's Note:**

> Ya’aburnee (Arabic): “You bury me” It’s a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person, because of how difficult it would be to live without them.


End file.
